Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2017

Perspective
Sherifa El Alfi

“A woman caring for her children; a woman striving to excel in the private sector; a woman partnering with her neighbors to make their street safer; a woman running for office to improve her country—they all have something to offer, and the more our societies empower women, the more we receive in return.” Queen Rania of Jordan

Middle Eastern women are often portrayed as oppressed and powerless, which most of the time is far from the truth. For many years Western media has implanted false perceptions of Arab women, for example symbolizing the veil as a representation of imprisonment or terrorism rather than a representation of faith and modesty. Generations of Arab women continue to prove the untrue stereotypes to be just that, and it is vital to recognize them in order to change the perception and inspire other women.

Perspective magazine serves as that platform for young Arab women to share their experiences on how Western media has influenced the ways they are portrayed, while encouraging readers to see people from a different perspective. The publication also includes stories about famous empowering Arab women, such as Queen Rania of Jordan, or Reem Acra, wedding fashion designer. They are included to show how these remarkable women successfully conquered stereotypes, although the majority of the context features the modern, young, everyday Arab woman. All the women featured serve the same purpose of diminishing misconceptions and inspiring other people to do the same.

Andy Agus

Ameer Akbar

Sherifa El Alfi

Orhan S Awatramani

Evan Badr

Mrinal Bhatia

Yaël Bienenstock

Olivia Brodtman

Adomas Bruzga

Holly Burt

Kiana Caesar

Elizabeth Capreol

Christian Caraballo

Alyson Cardenas

Gabriela Carnabuci

Marjorie Chamberlain

Vanna Chan

Sachi Chandiramani

Leslie Chavez

Katherine Cheng

Emily Cho

Soomin Choi

Hyeree Choi

Talia Cotton

Dorothy Cruz

Katie DeAngelis

Nicole Jane Debler

Dominique DeVito

Megan Dias

Theresa Duemler

Juan Francisco Morales Egas

Michelle Eguia

Audrey Farnsworth

Peter Fowler

Myesha Evon Gardner

Alijah Gilbert

John Hammond

Jin Ju Han

Aimee Hedman

Perla Herrera

Lauren Horsman

Zhiyan Huang

Ji Hea Jang

Urvita Jhaveri

Myles Jones

Cheryl Kao

Phoebe Kennedy

Alice Yeji Kim

Jung Yeon Kim

Thomas Sang Gul Kim

Chewon Kim

Sanggyun Kim

Hansung Kim

Likando Kumoyo

Jang Kyungjun

Josh LaCalamito

Yunjoo Lee

Kyung Sun Lee

SooJi Lee

Meijun Li

Alice Lim

Junya Lin

Yuchen Liu

Kimberly Lombardi

Natalia Malik

Roisin McNulty

Simen L. Meyer

Nikoletta Mitsopoulou

Chloë Murray

Cyrus Nathaniel

David Dahao Ni

Mariana Del Nogal

Sofia Olarra

Kamila Ortiz

Ji Hyun Park

Sara Pena

Melissa S. Peralta

Camille Petricola

Sander Phoenix

Urvi Raghbeer

Andrew Ramirez

Brianna Saba

Stephen Salomon

Julianna Amelia Santolucito

Raida Saveree Sarwar

Ritika Shah

Shui Shan

Jisoo Sim

Lauren Stein

Pei Yu Sun

Shivalika Tandon

Nia Thomas

Laura Tien

Karina Tristandy

Paula Volchok

Djiun Wang

Kyra Wang

Taylor Wasikonis

Junlu Xie

Marie Yamamoto

Jasmine Zhang